Will sighed and rested his head in his hands. How had it got so bad? He let himself slide to the floor as brief snapshot memories of the last two weeks began to slot into place. Firstly there was the hushed phone conversation she had held in the hall, how she had been feeling sick in the mornings and finally how she had been very defensive and overly embarrassed when Emma had asked if her period was late.
The little blue line in front of him pieced together the jigsaw puzzle of events. He groaned as he got to his feet. Emma was likely to throw a wobbly when she found out so for the moment he would have to deal with it all by himself.
Knocking gently on Elle's door he peered round it to see the window wide open and a muddy footprint on the ledge. She must have climbed out through the window and escaped down the tree. Why had he waited so long to go and check on her? She probably though he was angry.
He walked up and down the hallway. Memories of child abduction cases, child abuse and run away stories flooded through his mind. He ran back to her room and looked around, it didn't take him long to spot her phone still lying on her bedside table. He picked it up and one by one began to dial each number in turn. None of her friends knew where she was and if they did then they certainly weren't telling. Eventually he drew a blank and sat in shock on Elle's bed. Where was she?
Meanwhile across Canley, Honey was shifting from her comfortable position on the sofa to answer the door. "Elle!" She exclaimed letting her best friend's daughter into her flat. "What are you doing here? Your absolutely soaked, hey have you been crying?" She asked firing question after question at the sobbing child in front of her. Closing the door with her foot she took Elle's jacket from her and led her through to the living room.
"Is…is Dan here?" Elle asked nervously looking around.
"No sweetheart he's working today." Honey sighed softly, between their shifts and all their other responsibilities she hardly got to spend any time alone with her boyfriend. "Now you gonna tell me what's up." She continued sitting down on the sofa next to Elle.
"I...I ran away, please don't tell Mum and Dad where I am." Elle begged her beginning to cry openly.
"Babe, you know what your Dad's like. He's probably crawling up the walls trying to find you and what about your Mum she'll be imagining all the worst things. See that's the trouble with being a copper, these stories about young girls being abducted aren't just news headlines, we deal with them first hand. We know what's going on. Look at least let me phone Will, I'll tell him that you're safe but not to come round for a bit. That means that we can talk first yeah." She said patting Elle's knee gently.
When Elle had nodded, Honey leaned over and picked up her phone quickly dialling Emma and Will's home phone. She quietly explained what had happened and that she would probably bring Elle home in a few hours but not to worry because she was safe with her.
After putting down the phone she turned back to Elle. "Now what really happened?" She asked looking at her with genuine concern.
"I…I'm…I'm pregnant Honey." Elle replied looking up at her uncertainly. "Dad found out and…and he's probably really angry with me." She added a worried look passing over her face.
"I'm sure he's not darling. He probably just wants to help. Now do you know whose baby it is?" She asked moving a strand of hair from in front of Elle's face.
"No…god I've made such a mess of this." She said crying into Honey's t-shirt.
"It's okay. Do you want to keep the baby?" Honey asked her gently stroking her hair.
"NO!" Elle shouted. "I mean…I'm fifteen, I don't think I could look after a baby. I can't even look after myself properly." She continued, her voice getting distinctly quieter.
"Well then that's okay, you don't have to know who the dad is then. Look you might not wanna tell me but how many guys have you slept with and when." She pressed, wiping away Elle's tears.
"Um about four. The…the first one was about five months ago but we stopped going out a few weeks after. Then there was a guy called Gary but we were both drunk and it was just stupid. Erm…I…I stayed over at a mates house and I slept with her older brother and then there was Tom a few weeks ago." She finished blushing furiously.
"So it's most likely it's Tom's." Honey concluded. "You used protection right?" She asked in hindsight.
"Erm yeah but with Beth's older brother and with Tom; it kind of split." She replied avoiding Honey's eyes.
"Do your mum or dad know that you've been sleeping with people?" Honey asked taking hold of Elle's hand.
"Well Dad obviously does now but I don't know about Mum. I mean they're both police officers but I guess they might just be turning a blind eye." She replied softly.
"Well look if it makes you feel any better I was in a similarly bad situation when I was your age. I got pregnant too but the worst part of it was that I only found out after my dad had caught me in bed with this guy." She told her giggling slightly at the memory.
"What did he do?" Elle asked intrigued.
"Well I thought he would throw a wobbly but he just said he wanted to help me through it. He took me to the clinic and I had an abortion and then we sat down and talked about it. He was really great about it but in the end he had to tell my mum. We never really got on but she just wanted what was best for me as well. I didn't realise it then but really she was just trying to protect me. We get on great now but when I was a teenager it was a whole other story. You should make the best of it with Emma while you still can, your childhood won't last forever and she just wants you to be her little girl again." Honey said cuddling her tightly.
"I…I should speak to them about this shouldn't I?" Elle said looking up at her.
"I'll phone them and they can come over; that way if they throw a fit then you can stay with me until it's all calmed down. You go sit in my room and I'll take them through when they get here." Honey said taking her by the hand and leading her through to her bedroom.
About twenty minutes later, both Emma and Will arrived at Honey's flat. Will looked wiped out and Emma was deathly pale. "Is…is she okay?" Emma stuttered grabbing onto Honey for support.
"Erm yeah, she just needs to talk to you both. Will you go speak to her; she's in my room. It's the third door down the hall." She called after his retreating back.
"Now Emma, I don't really know how to explain this but well…Elle's pregnant." She said pulling Emma gently onto the sofa next to her. "Hey look no offence or nothing but you don't really look surprised babe." She added watching Emma's face stay emotionless.
"It's because…because I already knew. I just…I hoped she'd want to tell me about it herself." Emma said burying her head in Honey's shoulder.
"Hey how did you find out, Will only discovered it today." Honey replied looking quizzically at Emma.
"I…I was tidying her room and I found the split condom in the bin. She's been feeling sick in the mornings and she got really defensive when I asked her if her period was late. I mean I am a copper; those can't all be coincidences. I was going to talk to her about it soon but…but I wanted her to come to me. To need me like she used to." Emma said dissolving into tears again.
"Hey. Look listen to me, she does still need you. She just thought that you'd both throw a wobbly and be angry with her. You should have seen her when she came here, she just wants you to tell her you love her and hold her close. She needs her mum; I mean Will's probably doing a pretty good job but really it's a girl thing." Honey said rubbing Emma's back.
"Be gentle with her, she needs your support not your judgement." Honey whispered before turning the door handle to her bedroom and letting them both in. She smiled as she watched the situation unfold before her. Elle was facing away from them and away from Will. Both had their backs to Honey and Emma and they clearly hadn't heard them enter the room as they continued just the way they had been before.
"Darling no matter what you do I will always be proud of you. Even though you've got yourself into a bad situation here I'm still proud of you. You want to know why? It's because even though you ran away you still have the courage and decency to want to speak to your mum and me about it. You may hurt for a while but we'll help you get through it. I promise." He said sitting down on the bed next to her and wrapping his arms around her shaking frame.
"Daddy, I love you." She said clinging onto him like she never wanted to let go. "I'm going to make you proud. I'm going to tell Mum. I really did want to tell her but it just wouldn't come out. I don't like things the way they are but I didn't want them to get even worse. I love her, I just don't know what to do."
"I love you too Elle." Emma said simply from where she was standing next to Honey.
"Mum?" She asked looking over Will's shoulder with a small smile. "I was going to tell you, I need you. Do you still love me now you know?" She asked staring up at Emma.
"I've known for a while and yes of course I still love you." Emma replied smiling at Elle's puzzled expression. "You want to know how I know…call it mother's intuition." She added settling on the bed next to the two of them.
"What your dad said was true for me too. I'll always be proud of you and love you. You're still my little girl." She said scooping her daughter up in her arms and cuddling her close.
More to come...was gonna be a two-parter but I've been convinced to do more and I'm having fun making up some very evil plans :D xxxxpip